How to Know When to Upgrade a BDR Appliance

Upgrading BDR appliances depend on several factors. Here's what one BDR expert says.

Datto Business Development Vice President Rob Rae

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Managed services providers (MSPs) looking to upgrade a backup and disaster recovery (BDR) appliance might not know the best time to do so -- so MSPmentor found the answer.

"The clearest answer is if the customer grows beyond the device sold," says Rob Rae, business development vice president at Datto, a Norwalk, Connecticut-based BDR and business continuity company.

"If there is no scale opportunity, them when the device is about to fall out of warranty (every 3 years) or the features of the technology have changed enough that a new device would warrant the need," he says.

How often MSPs evaluate customers for upgrades depends mainly on time. "Quarterly reviews are ideal but in most cases not realistic," Rae says. "Worst case, a semi-annual review should be at a minimum."

When checking customers for upgrades, Rae says MSPs should make sure "the data that is being backup both from what is being backed up as well as how much."

"A proper continuity solution will have backups being run every 30 min and all data in the environment being backed up," he says.

MSPs will see growth in the devices being used "as we continue to see growth in the local economies," Rae says. "Good news for everyone is we are seeing more growth than ever before."

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